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Susan Spear, director of the U.S. Forest Service's Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers programs in Washington, D.C., recently spoke to Penn State students and faculty members about the 110-year-old agency’s history and future.

Like a dependable flock of third-shift insect-control workers, bats can eat up to 3,000 insects every night. Now the once-plentiful nocturnal master of northeastern summers is threatened by a mysterious fungal disease. Researchers say that during the last decade, white-nose syndrome has decimated much of the region’s cave-dwelling bat populations, and cratered entire bat species.

Three students -- Kelsey Czyzyk, Alexandra Sorce and Andrew Madl -- received awards for their research last week, as part of the second annual Award for Undergraduate Research on Sustainability and the Environment.

After missing her bus back to Santiago -- Chile's capital city -- Amanda Dezamits spent her most recent birthday sleeping under the stars with one blanket between two friends. This proved to be just one of the highlights of her recent five-month trip to the South American country.

Lisa Jackson, vice president of environmental initiatives at Apple Inc. and former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will be the keynote speaker at the 2014 Colloquium on the Environment on Nov. 6.

Whether people admit it or not, the way the world uses energy is unsustainable: Energy demand keeps going up as fossil fuel reserves go down, and science is racing to find an answer. Penn State’s latest MOOC — Energy, the Environment and Our Future — is exploring some of the proposed solutions by delving into the science behind energy alternatives such as solar and wind power.

Penn State offers a Visible Emissions Training Program that teaches attendees how to visually identify characteristics of smoke plumes. It’s scheduled for Oct. 15-16 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park Campus and is also offered at two other campuses in October –Greater Allegheny and Lehigh Valley.

This semester, the League of American Bicyclists recognized Penn State as a Bicycle Friendly University. Joel Weidner, director of the Interactive Media Team in Auxiliary & Business Services, rides his bike to work every day. The 1.3-mile ride may not seem like a lot, but what turns out to be about 15 miles a week (plus riding to meetings) makes biking to work the healthy, environmental and cost-effective activity that keeps Weidner riding -- even in the nastiest weather.

It was 35 degrees this morning. How was your ride? Do you ride in all weather?
It wasn't bad, a little chilly. I've biked in total snow and slush when I probably shouldn't have. I just take it really slow. It almost gets to be a principle thing. I wiped out once on the ice. My hardcore biker friend said, "There are two kinds of bikers: Those who have crashed and those who are going to crash."

A year ago, Penn State Housing, with help from the Office of Physical Plant and Residence Life, embarked on a seemingly impossible quest. Its goal was to change habits, raise awareness and increase options in an effort to make the residence halls zero waste.

A daunting task indeed. But starting with North Halls last spring and now in several East Halls buildings, on-campus students have proven they are not afraid to take on the zero waste challenge.

"They're on board here," said Jan Mason, East Halls Housing manager. "It took some time to adjust and some education, but now we have the buy-in we're looking for, and we're ready to move forward."

Environmentally charged programs at the Penn State hotels caught the attention of a statewide organization, which recognized the two facilities for their continued commitment to the environment and instilling sustainable practices into their day-to-day operations.

The Nittany Lion Inn and Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel won the Pennsylvania Waste Watchers Award. The designation identifies businesses and schools that overachieve in their commitment to recycling, waste reduction, reuse and composting.

The time to update its 20-25 year master plan was approaching, and officials at the University Park Airport saw an opportunity to receive federal funding to create a Sustainable Airport Master Plan. The airport's application was accepted and University Park is now the 13th airport in the country--and first in the state--to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to make its future development operations "greener."

The 18-month plan provides the airport with $217,000 in federal airport improvement funding to address sustainability. With the airport's relationship with the University and the surrounding community, it was an ideal choice for funding.

Subaru of America has become one of the lead funders of Penn State Public Broadcasting's "Water Blues, Green Solutions," a documentary and community engagement project that looks at sustainable ways to manage America's water resources.